this is set during season four, but the ending doesn't really work with season four so *shrug*
happy Scorpion Monday!
"I told you!" Toby screamed. "I told you taking a case on Christmas was a bad idea, Walter!"
Other occupants in the waiting room shot various looks at the team. Cabe glared warningly in the general direction. Most proceeded to look away.
Hands on his hips, Toby continued pacing. He stared at Walter with the most steeled, furious, desperate look conceivable. Walter's body position matched his, but he lacked resembling intensity.
"I was trying to get us out of debt, Toby," Walter snapped. He looked like a dull candle flame compared to Toby's all enveloping fire. "I didn't know-"
"You're supposed to know! You're the guy with the 197 IQ! You're the leader! How could you not have-"
Walter clenched his jaw and stepped closer. "I couldn't see her. I would've warned her about the bullet, had I seen it."
"Damn it, Walter, that's not good enough!" Toby's voice was raw, bleeding out desperate veins of words. "You were right there!"
"I was focused on trying to get us out of there," Walter countered sharply. "You think I wanted this?"
Eyebrows furrowed, Paige glimpsed her son beside her. "Sly, take Ralph to the cafeteria."
Ralph's head snapped up. "Mom. I want to wait, too."
"I'm not asking, Ralph," she instructed.
Sly put a hand on the younger genius' shoulder. "C'mon, pal."
Frowning at his mother, Ralph reluctantly stood from the chair. He followed Sly down the hall and out of sight, giving the group a lingering look on the way.
Walter wrinkled his forehead. His expression softened when turning to Paige. "If I frightened Ralph, I apologize."
"No, you didn't." She shook her head. "I just don't want him near...this."
Understandingly, Walter nodded, his attention pulled back. "Okay. Toby, maybe you should-"
"Maybe you should stop trying to make excuses. I'm not up for your bullshit right now, Walter." Toby ran a curved hand down his beard, shifting in the opposite direction.
Cabe stepped closer. "Hey," he told Toby.
Toby jerked on his heels, facing them again. "Yeah. Course you're taking his side."
"Toby, we're all on the same side here," Paige arbitrated, glancing between the trio. "Happy's side."
"Don't defend him!" Toby shouted. He'd attracted the attention of every single person in the room, nurses behind the desk included. But he continued to climb the stairs of anger nonetheless, practically exploding as he neared the top. "I have a right to be mad! Walter, it's Christmas Eve! Scorpion's money hole could've waited until next week!"
Crease lines further pulled at Walter's forehead. "We've had cases on all the major holidays for the last few years," he said. "We've gotten through all of them."
"I asked you not to today. You didn't listen to me." Toby's breathing was deep, far from calm. "Because you always know what's best for the company, don't you?"
Walter clenched his fists as his eyes narrowed dangerously. Cabe and Paige exchanged a glance. "I do. I'm the boss."
"Let's all just take a breather, okay?" interrupted Paige. Rising to her feet, she abandoned her coat on the chair. She dropped a hand on Toby's shoulder as an attempt at comfort.
"We all wanted to have a good Christmas. You just needed to screw it up," Toby claimed. "You don't even know what a normal holiday is. And when the opportunity came knocking to do something you're comfortable with, you just couldn't let it go."
"Doc," Cabe threatened. "That's enough."
Toby ripped out of Paige's hold, putting his face inches away from Walter's. "You know how to take charge on a case, lead us out victorious. What you don't know, is how to bake cookies and sing Christmas songs and drink eggnog and exchange gifts like a normal god damn person. And that scares you, Walter. You didn't want to mess up your first Christmas as Paige's boyfriend, but your choice put a bullet in my wife's shoulder!"
"Toby," Cabe scolded.
Panting, Toby finally took an inward breath. His bright red face tensed. He made eye contact with Paige, Cabe, and Walter, too, glaring at the latter for the longest.
They waited for an aftershock that didn't shock.
He decided to take a break instead of further straining his voice. "I need a walk."
There was still too much time until her surgery would be done. But he checked the wall clock every minute anyway.
Toby found an empty bench. He didn't know how many flights of stairs he'd stormed down, he didn't know where he ended up.
He just knew he wasn't ready to go back yet. Back to the desperate anger, back to Walter, and back to the uncertainty of the waiting room.
Sighing, he kept his head in his hands, elbows balanced on his thighs. His brain ran through all the potential possibilities-every way the surgery could go wrong. Over and over again. It fell into a pattern, the rhythm pounding against his skull like a bloody fist.
God, he couldn't live without her.
The breath in his lungs, the better half of his soul, his reason for living. Everything he was. Somewhere, he recognized she would be okay. Underneath the thick pessimistic layers. But the forefront of his mind poisoned his thoughts with only negativity.
"It's not his fault."
He recognized Paige's concerned voice immediately.
"I guess on some level," he mumbled against his palms, "I know that."
"Can I sit?"
Toby slid his face into view, propping up his chin. He loosened his fingers to gesture simply at the empty bench space between himself and the wall. "Seat's all yours."
Paige smiled and accepted his invitation. "How are you?"
"I don't know."
She entwined her fingers in her lap, leaning her head back against the wall. "If you wanna talk, I'm listening."
"Was your intention getting me to apologize about Walter?" He shifted his head towards her.
"No." Paige shrugged. "But you doing it willingly would still be a nice thing to hear."
"It's not gonna happen, Paige."
"It's not his fault," she repeated with a sigh.
"I asked him a month ago for an open holiday," Toby said. "What did he do? Book a Christmas case."
"We've had near death experiences on Christmas the past three years. And pretty much all the other holidays. Is tacking another one onto the list such a big deal?"
"Yes," he insisted, raising his head to stand on its own. "As her fiancé, I did everything I could to ensure she had the perfect Christmas. That went south pretty fast. And as her husband, I wasn't about to let it happen again. Yeah, Scorpion's in the whole pretty deep, but Walter went against my request and accepted a job anyway. As a result, a bullet narrowly missed her heart." Hearing the thought out loud made his mouth feel like sandpaper.
Paige's hand dropped onto his arm. "I get it, okay? I do. I just think you're...scared and frustrated, but you're taking all that out on Walter unnecessarily."
"Unnecessarily?" His voice started raising like earlier. "Are you kidding me?"
She tilted her neck. "Toby-"
"Take the girlfriend goggles off, Paige," he snapped. "Walter made a bad call, and it almost took Happy's life. Now, instead of cuddled up with eggnog by a warm fire, I'm trying to keep my calm while she's on the damn operating table!"
Pulling her hand away, Paige brushed both through her hair. "He couldn't have predicted this. If that was the case, you know he never would've done it."
"That doesn't remove the bullet from my wife."
She sighed again. "It was an accident. Walter feels awful."
"He didn't seem too remorseful back there."
"When has Walter ever dealt with his guilt well?"
Toby huffed. "Never."
"Exactly. I think you were right, back there. He just didn't need to hear it," Paige revealed. "He's still learning it's okay to be happy. And he's learning how to be happy. Please, I know it isn't easy, but be patient with him from here on out, okay?"
"Doesn't give him the right to act like he did." Toby crossed his arms.
Toby's legs had never moved so fast. As he followed the nurse down the hallway, he breathed quicker and shallower. His heart thumped.
"Your wife is resting. But she's going to be fine."
"I need to see her."
She frowned behind her plastic clipboard. "Dr. Curtis, you know very well-"
His tone left no room for argument. "I need to see her."
Pursing her lips, she stared at the expression on his face. Hurting, like he'd been shot by the gun himself. He gripped his wedding band with the opposite fingers, pinching and fidgeting and holding on. Slowly, she nodded. "Alright. It is Christmas Eve, after all." She pushed Happy's door open for Toby. He immediately took off, but she put a hand in front of his chest. "There's just something you need to know first. Something we discovered when Mrs. Quinn-Curtis arrived."
His heart dropped. "What?"
The nurse then allowed him to enter through the door. After a quick glance at the pair, she closed it behind him. Faster than the human eye could blink, Toby darted to Happy's side across the room. "Oh, baby, Happy, oh my god-"
"Hey, doc."
He swooped into the bedside chair, taking her hands in his. His voice softened upon hearing hers.
He ran his free hand down the side of her face, knuckles brushing faintly against her cheek. Eyes sinking to the sling across her arm, he said worriedly, "You're supposed to be asleep."
"Had someone I wanted to see first," she croaked.
His attempt at a thin smile resulted in a hard swallow. "How are you feeling?" he asked. "How did the surgery go? Are you okay? Is there any pain?"
She passed a pulse back to him through their entwined fingers. Faint, but beating without hesitation. "I'm good." Skeptical, he frowned, which prompted her to say, "I promise."
Toby held the sigh of relief in his throat. "Okay."
"How's the team?" Happy inquired. "Did we catch those bastards?"
He smiled larger this time, palm stroking her messily knotted locks. "Yeah, Hap. We got 'em."
Satisfied, she relaxed backwards into the pillows. "Merry Christmas to those sons of bitches."
And bigger still. "Christmas dinner behind bars. Bet they didn't plan on that when hatching their scheme."
"Exactly." She leaned closer to his touch, letting her lips drift upwards. "Tell the team to go home. They shouldn't be spending the holiday eve here."
He laughed breathily through his nose. "You haven't even seen them, yet you know they're here, huh?"
"Just a feeling."
Toby rubbed his thumb against her temple, but kept his whole hand on the side of her head. "They wouldn't leave if Santa's sleigh broke down outside and caught on fire."
"There's not enough room in here for all of them," she countered.
Seriousness slipped between his following words. "Nobody's leaving, Happy."
She sighed. "I'm not exactly comfortable with everyone watching me sleep. Plus, what if I have to hit the john? I'm only wearing this damn robe. I'd be all open."
"They won't sneak a peek of your goods," he replied softly, teasingly.
Happy shifted. "Better not."
"I'll make sure of it."
She repositioned herself, as close to him as she could get. "How're you?"
"I'm…" he struggled, "handling it."
Her eyes twinkled. "I'm okay, Toby. I'm alive and gonna heal."
He squeezed. "There's something else. Something else on top of the healing that your body's gotta get ready for."
"...What?"
"Hap…" he started, sentence twirling into an euphoric spiral, "you're pregnant."
Pulling the door forward by keeping his hand on the knob, Toby walked in the opposite direction.
He was bombarded before making it an inch further. Ralph, Cabe, Sly, and Walter all spurted simultaneous variations of a question asking about her current state. Toby blinked and put his hands up.
Paige gently grabbed Ralph by the shoulder, but addressed all of them. "Give him some space."
Sly pressed his lips together apologetically and stepped back. The others followed suit.
"Thanks, Paige," Toby added with a nod. He waited a few seconds to gather his bearings. "A week in the hospital, minimum. I think she'll be ready to leave here in five days, give or take. But keeping her longer is the better option. They did remove the entire bullet, though, which is good news. She'll be fine, they're assuming, just sore for a while. "
A harmonized exhale of relief enveloped the group.
"Thank God." Paige covered her heart.
"Is she-" Cabe started.
"Should be sleeping," Toby replied. "Now that she realized you guys aren't hitting the road, she wants you in there. So, I'm scratching the rest thing for a bit."
"Final verdict?" Sly questioned.
Toby moved against the wall. "Let's not keep her awake too long. But head on in."
The team, full of grins, hurried inside.
Everyone, except Walter. He looked tempted to breeze past Toby without a word. But he stopped, face and shoulders scrunched. Once the others were far enough, he glanced awkwardly at his colleague.
"Something wrong?" Toby prompted.
His throat rumbled. "I...I have to apologize."
Toby's chest heaved, the corner of his lip plunging. "Yeah. Same here."
"I should not have taken that job today." He started off stumbling. But he gained traction and stability as he progressed. "It was wrong of me to do so after you specifically requested to have an open holiday."
The brim of Toby's hat hit the white wall as he rocked on his feet thoughtfully. "You talked to Paige?"
"Yes. But that's not to say she's forcing my hand here," Walter assured.
"I know," answered Toby. He tilted his chin upwards. "Look, it's not totally your fault Happy got shot. You weren't the one with the gun." Sly chuckled in a chair he pulled up, and Happy gave a strained attempt at one. "I...can't exactly forgive you right now, either. Not while she's in pain."
Slightly disappointed, Walter shook his head. "I understand."
"I'm sorry for being such a jackass about it, though," Toby continued. "You didn't exactly deserve that."
"It's alright. I guess I deserved...some of it."
Toby shrugged, lacking his usual playful nature. "Can I ask why, Walt? Why you took the case instead of listening to me?"
Walter exercised the muscles in his jaw. He glanced into the room, at Paige's head against Ralph's. Paige watched lovingly as Ralph said something to Happy that made her laugh again. She ruffled his hair.
Walter closed the door. Then, he checked the surrounding space, despite knowing no one was there. He turned his eyes back on Toby. "I would like to purchase an engagement ring for Paige. I just...I don't have the money at the moment."
Toby grinned a toothy grin. "Holy crap. Who woulda imagined. You, Walter O'Brien, scoping out diamonds for a special lady."
Walter instantly became tense, jerking his head around. "Shhhh. Keep your voice down, Toby."
"No one's gonna hear us." Toby hit his shoulder, mouth wide. Pausing, his upper body fell back. "That's a totally valid, okay, normal reason for accepting the case. I didn't mean that stuff I said earlier-about you wanting to screw with Christmas."
Walter's brows furrowed. "Thank you…?"
"I'll help you from here on out."
"Help me with what?" he said warily.
"Help you with this whole process. I'll be your pre-best man selection best man."
Walter answered with a contorted expression. "Ugh. Telling you was definitely a mistake."